Does anyone have a SmartTV WITH Roku?..

Jace

Well-known Member
(not the device..but IN/With tv)
The tv in the bedroom is s-o-o old..on an antenna...
..(don't laugh)
And picture drops/'closes down' to a single line..till I thump-it-back
to full picture..which is really, really getting annoying...
So..
Time for upgrade
Is it difficult to set up?..
since I'm really not technically -inclined.
Any help..advice..greatly appreciated
😉
 

(not the device..but IN/With tv)
The tv in the bedroom is s-o-o old..on an antenna...
..(don't laugh)
And picture drops/'closes down' to a single line..till I thump-it-back
to full picture..which is really, really getting annoying...
So..
Time for upgrade
Is it difficult to set up?..
since I'm really not technically -inclined.
Any help..advice..greatly appreciated
😉
My huzz bought a tv with Roku in it for his shop. He's pretty happy with it but I admit we had to have his wonderful niece set it up for us. If you don't have a younger friend/relative like that, I bet you could find a YouTube video that would be pretty good. (I had to find out on YouTube how to change the cartridge in my laser printer; I've got the video saved and everything for next time, lol.) Good luck.
 
I bought a TCL TV from Amazon earlier this year, it is
an Android TV and it comes with several TV services
installed, but not Roku, you can go to Google Play
Store and add more, all are free, while some have
rental charges for movies etc., I have found that one
might ask for a rental fee, for something, while it is
free elsewhere.

These TVs are fairly cheap, but the price varies, according
to which TV Service is the main installed one, Amazon Fire
sets seem to be the most expensive, but Amazon Prime is
included in others.

Mike.
 

My TV occasionally switches off in the middle of programmes. I vacuumed all round the ventilation slots and that seems to have improved matters a bit but eventually I'll have to get a new one. I don't want 'apps', games or any such rubbish. Out here in the sticks, we don't have million trillion mega bits internet, so If it has 'Freeview' via. aerial, that will do fine.
 
I don't think you need a "million trillion mega bits internet" to watch streaming TV (apps like Netflix, Prime, Paramount, Hulu, etc.). When our internet provider is down, I've watched HD TV using my Android phone hot spot, which gives me about 40 MB. Streaming TV is, for the most part, at least at this time, commercial-free. And it's a pleasure to be able to "binge watch" a series without waiting for a new episode each week. Here's a chart of required speeds to watch streaming TV:
Streaming ResolutionRecommended Minimum Bandwidth
Standard Definition (SD/480p)1 Mbps
High Definition (HD/720p)3 Mbps
High Definition (HD/1080p)5 Mbps
4K (UHD/2160p)15+ Mbps
 
Out here in the sticks, we don't have million trillion mega bits internet, so If it has 'Freeview' via. aerial, that will do fine.
I was like you Capt Lightning, until I bought a Flat Screen
Television set several years ago, it was around the start
of smart things, like Dab radio, smart TV, then I didn't know
what a smart TV was, I bought mine because it was HD ready.

Then I found that you can have all sorts of different programmes,
many better than what is offered on Freeview, there are shows
from all around the world, there are also old UK TV shows that
were the best many years ago.

I still need an aerial for the UK TV, but all others are via the hub,
which doesn't take away your allowance, this morning I watched
live Australian football, from NSW, it poured rain, for the entire
game, but they didn't abandon it, they finished 0-0.

So before you look for a basic TV when your one finally gives up,
have a look round and see, what is on offer, you will be surprised.

Mike.
 
One issue with a "smart" TV is that in many ways they are like phones today.

The worst aspect of that is software updates, that with time will exceed or push the limits of the hardware in your TV and it can get slow and balky about changing channels and settings and even volume up/down!

These TVs have no provisions for upgrading the hardware. That means at some point you might have to either buy an external box/stick to plug into it or even just discard the danged thing even though it still works fine otherwise. Add an external box and you have the confusion of two similar remote controls required to operate 1 TV.


It has become very hard to find a new "dumb" TV to add a replaceable box/stick to (or just use as an OTA and Cable TV). So you're kind of stuck.

In a capitalist system competition would prevent or alleviate that. But in our global corporate oligarchy which borders on a socialist system that isn't the case. TV makers have no incentive to produce products for niche markets, so they all push to maximize profits by egging each other on to add "features," and design products for planned obsolescence.


TCL and competitors are beginning to turn away from building in Roku and turning to Google TV instead. Probably because licensing per TV is cheaper for them. Android TV is a dead product as far as I know.
 
... Add an external box and you have the confusion of two similar remote controls required to operate 1 TV. ...
Actually, when I added the Roku stick to my 8 yr old smart TV (which was getting dumber), the Roku remote and stick software controlled everything fine. I already had a Sofabaton X1S universal remote, but I used the Roku remote fine to go through all the setup.
 
When I lived in Hampshire over 20 years ago, we had cable TV and phone. Here in rural Scotland, all you get are broken promises as to when you might get fibre broadband instead of the 2, yes 2, Mb ADSL. That's why I use a 4G network which gives me up to 40 Mbps for less money.
I'm not really interested in TV and certainly not 'binge watching', but there are some good programmes - and a lot of rubbish, I get through my 'top box' and aerial.

My current TV does have internet connection, but the TV needs updating, so we never bothered activating the WiFi.
 
Living in a Rv we are having to do without our Samsung smart Tv. Instead I use an HDML converter connected from my laptop to an Insignia digital tv. I wish the digital tv had blue-tooth so I could use apple-play. Having to connect macbook to tv via HDML cable is restrictive
 
Our new living room television has ROKU built in, it was the easiest thing I had to set up... Put the network information in, network name and password, and away it went... But I still prefer Firestick... The big TV is down in what I call our theatre room, I did have a firestick on it, but my niece wanted to try firestick, so now just having it run on the smart TV, and am very happy with it...
 
If it eases your mind any I have Roku that I set up myself. It is not what you are doing, it is the plug in for a non-smart tv. It walked me through each step on screen and I was able to do it myself. It was not as complicated as I had feared and I am so glad I took the leap. I imagine having it already on the tv would be even easier. Good luck!
 
I have a Roku TV. Simple to set up, comes with simple instructions, and they have a website. Also, they're inexpensive.

I used an antennae before. Now I don't need it, and I cancelled cable. It's easy to hook up to your computer, too, but since Roku's streaming services include YouTube, I don't need to do that.
 


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